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Community Women’s OrchestraDr. Kathleen McGuire, ConductorMonday, July 14 
The Community Women’s Orchestra, participating in its first–ever GALA Choruses Festival, will present a short program (as a ’curtain’ raiser for USS Metaphor with San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus) including selections from Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman (1992) and lesbian / feminist composer Dame Ethel Smyth’s Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra (1928). About the Orchestra 
The Community Women’s Orchestra, now in its 23rd season, is a volunteer, all female orchestra based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In an effort to bring more exposure to the works of historic and contemporary women composers, the group performs at least one work by a woman composer at each of its concerts. The CWO was founded by Nan Washburn in 1985 as a community adjunct to the professional Women’s Philharmonic. Although the Women’s Philharmonic disbanded in 2004, the CWO continues to grow and flourish as an independent organization. It provides a unique opportunity for women musicians to perform seldom–heard works by women composers, as well as other well–known pieces, while giving audiences a rare opportunity to attend performances of those works. Conductor Dr. Kathleen McGuire, who has led CWO since 2005, is also artistic director of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC). Festival 8 in Miami is the orchestra’s first out–of–state tour; the women will accompany SFGMC and also Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus. CWO is featured on the SFGMC CD, Divas’ Revenge: Opera and Broadway Our Way, and the new DVD, USS Metaphor. To read more about Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman and Dame Ethel Smyth’s Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra please click here. For more information, visit: www.communitywomensorchestra.org The Lad That Loved A Sailor15th Anniversary of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus presents Monday, July 14 
"The love that dare not speak its name" takes center–stage in Miami at the Hilton Ballroom on Monday, July 14, 11 am, as San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus with the Community Women’s Orchestra present U.S.S. Metaphor: a tongue–in–cheek, hand–on–hip adaptation of the Gilbert & Sullivan classic, H.M.S. Pinafore. Set to the original musical score composed by Sir Arthur Sullivan, U.S.S. Metaphor features some of the catchiest tunes ever written for the stage: "Tunes you’ll be humming in the shower for months," promises Artistic Director and Conductor, Dr. Kathleen McGuire. McGuire re–voiced the score for all–male chorus, and with SFGMC’s production team produced the sidesplitting libretto and script. Renowned composer/lyricist Eric Lane Barnes also contributed to the script. McGuire goes on to explain that the libretto of H.M.S. Pinafore underwent "judicious modification." In the Metaphor version, the US Navy’s USS Metaphor is berthed in Boston Harbor (not Portsmouth, England); the sailor falls in love with the Captain’s son (not his daughter); Sir Joseph Porter’s role is replaced by the Secretary of the Navy, Josephine Porter – a woman who wants to be President; and Buttercup, who knows the secrets that drive the plot, is Mister Buttercup and reveals a secret of his own! The hilarious twists and turns of the plot – which take a savage swipe at Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and celebrate freedom to marry – make for "a story with tremendous wit, satire and humor for seekers after entertainment and social comment alike," according to Executive Director, Teddy Witherington. U.S.S. Metaphor is a fully choreographed and costumed production. "What better way to mark the 15th anniversary of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell than with a queer hornpipe?" quipped McGuire. Noting that USS Metaphor continues the celebration of the chorus’ 30th anniversary season, Witherington added: "The chorus was singing long before Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and will be bringing joy to audiences long after this heinous policy is dead and buried." Also available at the Festival: the USS Metaphor DVD! For more information, visit: www.sfgmc.org |